—I miss you.
At the soft voice, Won-hyeok froze on the spot. Not even realizing the call had ended, he just stood there outside the restaurant in a daze.
Talking face-to-face and hearing someone’s voice over the phone felt a little different. So the shy way Kang Han-gyeom’s voice had come through the phone sounded especially unfamiliar in a way that left Won-hyeok unable to pull himself together.
“Hey, why aren’t you coming in? We need to order.”
If Sun-woo hadn’t come outside and called for him, Won-hyeok might really have stayed rooted there like a stone statue for quite a while, still out of it.
“Uh, yeah. I’m coming in.”
“Oh!”
As Won-hyeok was stuffing his phone into his pocket, someone happened to pass in front of him, then stopped after noticing him.
“Hello.”
It was Han-ul. Smiling brightly like someone who’d just found something amusing, he gave Won-hyeok an especially polite greeting.
“So you’re not with Han-gyeom today?”
Han-ul also awkwardly greeted Sun-woo, who was standing stiffly near the entrance. Since they’d met before while gaming together at the PC bang, they at least knew each other’s faces and names.
“I told you not to call him Han-gyeom…….”
Won-hyeok was frowning when he suddenly felt a gaze from behind. Sun-woo was staring straight at him with narrowed eyes.
“Ah, right. Han-gyeom had plans today.”
Won-hyeok changed expressions in an instant, as if flipping over the palm of his hand. As though he had never looked serious in the first place, he put on an easy, dazzling smile, and Han-ul let out an impressed, “Wow…….”
“PC bang friend, are you on your way home?”
At that point, Sun-woo stepped fully outside.
“Ah, yes. I was supposed to have dinner with some classmates, but it fell through, so I was just heading home.”
“Then eat with us. The portions here are huge anyway, so it’s actually better if we’ve got one more person.”
Sun-woo pointed at the budae-jjigae place with his hand. On one side of the red signboard, in loud lettering, it read: “A place that serves crazy huge portions!”
“Would that really be okay?”
Han-ul had actually been planning to just roughly fill his stomach with delivery food for dinner anyway, so Sun-woo’s offer made him happy, but there was one other person he had to pay attention to first. He had no choice but to watch Won-hyeok’s reaction, since it was obvious Won-hyeok didn’t like him.
“Of course. You said you haven’t eaten dinner, right? You must be hungry. I’ll buy, so come eat with us.”
But right now, playing up his public image, Won-hyeok spoke to Han-ul in a gentle voice as if there were no reason at all to say no. At that, Han-ul chuckled under his breath as though something about it was endlessly funny.
“Then thank you, I’ll eat well. Thanks for letting me join.”
Han-ul exchanged proper greetings with Sun-woo and then slipped right inside with him.
“Ah, now I want a cigarette.”
Watching that, Won-hyeok let out long, heavy sighs. Ever since hearing that Han-gyeom had a department dinner tonight, he hadn’t been able to focus on anything. He’d even failed to check in for his afternoon class attendance and, for the first time, gotten a bunch of fucking annoying teasing from his classmates.
He’d gladly gone along with Sun-woo saying they should at least grab dinner before heading home, because if he went home like this, it felt like his mind was going to snap.
“Do Won-hyeok, should I just order the basic set?”
“Would it be okay if we added extra toppings?”
“Oh, nice. Since that bastard said he’s paying anyway, go ahead and order a ton.”
“Then this, and…… ah, should we add this too?”
But then why did it feel like being here right now was giving him even more stress somehow? Swallowing down the anger rising inside him, Won-hyeok sat down.
“By the way, this is the first time I realized sunbae Won-hyeok is that famous at the university.”
“Hm? What do you mean by that?”
Sun-woo asked while stirring the budae-jjigae that had been set out, ladling it around with a big spoon.
“Everytime app. It’s a total mess there. They’re saying the English Department idol is in a department couple. Posts just keep going up nonstop.”
Han-ul added that this was the first time he’d ever seen a community keep posting about one specific person like that. And besides, Han-ul already knew from hearing it from Han-gyeom several times: Won-hyeok wanted to keep the fact that they were dating a secret.
So when he found the related posts on Everytime, he’d been pretty shocked.
“Ah, so you saw that? It’s kind of complicated.”
Sun-woo glanced at Won-hyeok beside him and smiled as if he found it entertaining. But Won-hyeok was far too busy staring at his phone to care about whatever the two of them were saying.
No matter what anyone said, he didn’t even bother answering. As if someone had glued the phone to his hand, he just kept glaring at the screen like his life depended on it. Wondering what on earth he was doing, Sun-woo and Han-ul both peeked over at the same time and caught a glimpse of the chat screen with Han-gyeom.
Only, at some point, despite the countless texts Won-hyeok had sent, Han-gyeom’s reply speed had noticeably slowed down. Watching Won-hyeok fail to focus on his meal at all because he was so hung up on that, Sun-woo, while stirring the pot, suddenly pressed the spoon—hot from the boiling stew—against the back of Won-hyeok’s hand.
“Ah, fuck…….”
“…….”
Won-hyeok blurted out the curse instinctively, then flinched. With an awkward laugh, he looked back and forth between Sun-woo and Han-ul, both of whom were staring at him as if trying to drill holes through him.
“S-Sun-woo. You scared the shit out of me. Do you want to die…… no, I mean, why would you do that all of a sudden?”
“Hey, a clingy lover obsessed with staying in contact isn’t attractive.”
“That’s right.”
“Huh?”
At the two of them nodding and saying that, Won-hyeok tilted his head.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“You said this is practically Han-gyeom’s first time hanging out with his classmates since starting school. He’s probably having the time of his life right now, so stop interrupting him.”
At the word “interrupting,” the muscles in Won-hyeok’s face twitched. It sounded unpleasant, but at the same time, it felt like the remark had hit him right in the center.
“What do you mean, interrupting? I’m just worried about him. You guys might not know, but Han-gyeom can’t hold his liquor.”
“Han-gyeom isn’t a little kid, he’s an adult. I’m sure he’ll manage himself and have fun just fine.”
Han-ul’s blunt, piercing remark sank straight into Won-hyeok’s chest like a dagger. He didn’t exactly have anything to say back, but that still made it incredibly irritating.
“And Sun-woo sunbae is right. These days, people who try to control others through constant contact aren’t popular.”
“No…… seriously, I have no idea what you two are talking about. Who’s controlling who, and who’s obsessed?”
Won-hyeok was genuinely curious. He truly couldn’t understand why those bastards had suddenly started lecturing him with nonsense that made no sense to him at all.
Besides, obsession? Won-hyeok absolutely hated that kind of thing. I mean, wasn’t it only natural that someone born into the world with everything except a decent personality would have enough self-esteem to hate being controlled or obsessed over by anyone?
Usually, if you hate something yourself, you don’t do it to other people either. So what kind of dog-bone bullshit were those two spewing right now?
“If you think about it, this is all your own fault. Once the rumor spread that you two were dating, how much attention do you think got focused on Han-gyeom? Of course his classmates are dying to know more.”
Sun-woo was right. Han-gyeom had said something similar earlier too. This really was no different from falling into a hole he’d dug himself. He should’ve thought about side effects like this in advance too.
Won-hyeok bit his nail anxiously.
“Ah, but even without that, Han-gyeom probably would’ve gotten a lot of attention anyway. He said his classmates started talking to him a lot after he cut his hair and stopped wearing glasses.”
“Ah, I guess that too.”
“This fuck…… I really should’ve made him wear a hat after all…….”
Even while saying that, Won-hyeok glared at Han-ul like he wanted him dead. That bastard had also played a part in Han-gyeom’s image change, after all. Maybe he felt the stare, because Han-ul quietly turned his head away.
“But Han-gyeom does kind of make you feel like you just want to be good to him, as a person.”
“Right. Like he makes you want to take care of him.”
“I’ve never seen anyone so pure to the bone.”
“In a society where everyone’s completely tainted by worldly filth, that kind of personality really is rare.”
Bang—
As the two of them joined forces and praised Han-gyeom until their mouths ran dry, Won-hyeok slammed his fist down hard on the table. The pot and dishes on top of it all rattled loudly, and it was enough to make even the people at the next table glance over, thinking a fight had broken out.
“He’s mine.”
Won-hyeok’s mouth was smiling like usual, but his eyes absolutely were not. The expression on his face was the kind that could honestly make your skin crawl a little, and the two of them both cleared their throats at the same time.
“That pure-to-the-bone guy is mine.”
“……Uh, sure, have him. That’s not even what I meant in the first place. But if we’re being technical, isn’t Han-gyeom his own person?”
“I-I was just praising him as a friend.”
Apparently satisfied with their answers, Won-hyeok finally relaxed his expression and nodded with satisfaction. Sun-woo quickly changed the subject to lighten the atmosphere, which had become strangely awkward.
By the time the “three-person” budae-jjigae that looked more like a meal for four was nearly scraped clean thanks to Han-ul joining them, Sun-woo suddenly clapped his hands.
“Ah, speaking of second-years. Isn’t there one really ridiculous bastard over there?”
“Who?”
“You know, that guy…….”
Sun-woo tapped his forehead several times, apparently unable to remember right away.
“Ah! Han Su-hyeon or whatever his name was.”
Maybe because he’d finally remembered after really wracking his brain, Sun-woo’s voice came out louder than usual. But it was a name Won-hyeok didn’t recognize. To begin with, it would’ve been impossible for him to remember every younger student’s name.
“No idea. I’m hearing that name for the first time.”
“Hey, you not remembering is the problem.”
But then Sun-woo smirked and lightly slapped Won-hyeok on the shoulder.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’d think our English Department idol here would be liked by everyone regardless of year, but there’s exactly one guy who isn’t.”
Han-ul listened to Sun-woo’s words with interest, while Won-hyeok still looked confused and only fidgeted pointlessly with his phone.
“That’s Han Su-hyeon. The only guy in the entire English Department who hates you.”
